Warmup Cooking Class: "3 a.m. Pasta with Tempeh"

I'm back! I can't believe that it took almost a month for me to get my appetite back. Thanks to all of you who sent your kind wishes.

Last week, I was eating a little more than usual, but still mostly having soups, noodles, and other light fare. This weekend, my wife and I had a very nice visit to Savannah, Georgia. In addition to a beautifully restored historic town and being around many artists from SCAD, we loved spending time at The Sentient Bean, an all-vegetarian cafe with great vegan freshly baked sweetbreads and cookies. I still ate lightly at an Indian restaurant, Madras Saravana Bhavan, but by the time we left on Monday evening, I had a reasonably significant (and good!) meal at Saigon Restaurant, a good Thai and Vietnamese restaurant with many vegan choices (recommended!).

I had another light dinner on Tuesday, but yesterday enjoyed going out after my last photography class to Panzanella; I think they make the best pizza in the area, but shied away from the pesto and had a simple pizza with roasted tomatoes and olives. It was clear my appetite was mostly back! Just in time - I have a new 6-week cooking class which began today (I taught photography last night, computer science this morning, and cooking tonight - what a melange!).

I love to teach; one reason is that I meet very nice students, and tonight's new class was certainly no exception. After covering several presentations about the class mechanics and going over my Why Vegetarian? presentation, the students did a great job in about an hour preparing sauteed tempeh with shiitake mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions, and serving it with pasta, salad, and warmed bread. (I used to host a friend who would be away a lot and back in town only occasionally; sometimes she showed up at 3 a.m. Hospitality and genuine interest demands that one cook if our visitor hasn't eaten - what is one to cook at 3 a.m. for a visitor that is nutritious, yummy, and quick?) The food was great!

I'm so happy to be getting my appetite back! I am excited about finally getting to treat my wife to proper evening treats, relieving her of leftover and light cooking she reluctantly was doing.

By the way, back in early January, I mentioned that I had been interviewed by the editor of our local Independent newspaper for a story on vegetarianism. It turned out that they put together a nice cover story feature in the February 6 issue.